About Us

Pam Stebbing

Pammie Stebbing

After staying at home to bring up two children, and the youngest had left to go to the Army Foundation College in Harrogate, I joined Harry at County Upper School; working with children who have special educational needs and the last two years at that school working on a ‘one to one’ with a partially sighted student, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I then trained as a Montessori teacher at Cherry Trees School near Bury St Edmunds. I loved the whole ethos of Montessori but left in 2000 to set up a furniture making business with Harry, and have loved every minute of it. I’m the voice on the other end of the phone, who says ‘yes’ to everything and the workshop panic afterwards! I did a furniture restoration course in Norwich so I now have enough knowledge to be dangerous!! Please ring for information and if I can’t help you I’m sure Harry will.

Gerry Lowden

Gerry Lowden is part of our happy team of artisans, joining us on a part time basis in the year 2000, a great start to our millennium; he qualified as a teacher of woodwork (cabinet making) and metalwork in the traditional style in 1957.
After 40 years of teaching of an ever changing subject – 25 of those with Harry at County Upper School Bury St Edmunds - he retired as a design technology teacher in 1997. For the last ten years he has been doing private commission work in cabinet making and associated woodworking projects – church furniture, rocking horses and furniture to individual design.
A long standing member of the College of Craft Education (MCCEd)

Joanna Green

Jo practices the traditional art of gilding, also encompassing painted surface decoration. Much of her work involves the sympathetic restoration and conservation of Antique frames and furniture as well as work within period interiors, architectural gilding, contemporary furniture, painted surface decoration and specialist framing.
Jo has a wide range of customers including Antique dealers and collectors, The National Trust, painting/paper conservators, private owners of period properties, artists and art collectors, furniture makers and restorers, interior designers, yacht designers, kitchen makers and of course the Harry Stebbing Workshop !

Robert Lewis

Robert’s first memories of his interest in woodwork was coming across an old biscuit tin containing carved puppet/marionette limbs and torsos in his grandfather’s garage. Having travelled with his father in the Royal Air Force, the family eventually settled in Suffolk where at the age of seventeen, Robert was offered an apprenticeship as a woodcarver with Titchmarsh & Goodwin in Ipswich.
During the mid eighties Robert was invited to tender for the restoration and refurbishment of No 10 Downing Street. The sheer amount of architectural carving involved deemed it necessary for several woodcarvers to be involved. At the end of the project Robert was invited to carve the Royal Arms, (approximately one metre square) which now adorns one of the State Rooms and is one of his favourite commissions to date.
Other projects have included Uppark House, Hampshire : Windsor Castle : Foreign Office, London : St Mary’s Church, New York : House of Commons, London : Globe Theatre : London. In contrast to much of the above, Robert has undertaken regular commissions of extremely small and detailed carvings for pattern making in bronze or brass, and of course does all the hand carving for the Harry Stebbing Workshop.

Jonathan
Bacon

Jonathan, is a natural when it comes to working with wood. Having taught for over 25 years I have had only a handful of students who were what I’d call ‘naturals’ and Jon is one of them. He came to me straight from school and I had him making a box with such delicate joints that many experienced woodworkers would give their eye teeth to be able to make! We managed to get him on a Furniture and Cabinet Makers course at Norwich City College and of course he won the Apprentice of the Year award. He’s an asset to the business and we all know when he’s happy as the rest of the village can also hear him singing!!

Iain
Milligan

Iain, is the youngest member of the team, so he’s still ‘the Gopher’ but nonetheless a great all rounder. Sadly we tried to get him on the same course as Jonathan, only to be told that the course was “ .. no longer fashionable..” and it had therefore been axed. The only course available was a day release in Bench Joinery which he excelled at. Of course being an ex-teacher and old habits die hard .....!
This year Iain ran for the first time in the London Marathon. He worried us all as he developed knee problems about six weeks before he was due to run - and he hadn't run the full 26 miles in one go either - but who am I to comment I'd struggle to run for the bus these days!! He finished in a very respectable time of 3 hours 28 minutes and 8 seconds.

Alan Mitchell

Alan joined us shortly after Gerry, he works for us as and when he can because after working for many years in industry in a senior management capacity he decided to have a change of direction and started Stablemates with his wife Jackie. Stablemates range of hobby horses, wooden toys and traditional pub games are the best of British quality craftsmanship. All the toys are handmade in their workshop in Suffolk and we are happy that he can find time to also be one of our happy band of artisans.